I Have a Plan ... kind of.

My plan has yet to include securing housing and having a visa, but it does involve having plane tickets. As you can see from the map, I'll be in the Philippines from the 6th of August until I leave for Bali at the beginning of November.

I don't know a single word of the language, I don't have a place to stay, I have not figured out what to do for transportation once I arrive, there is not a single person there whom I've ever met, I don't know what the food is like, I am clueless about the culture, and I have no idea if I need any vaccinations or medication. I'm not just taking a little road trip vacation to Florida. I'm moving across the world to the Philippines completely on my own. If there has ever been a time in my life that I've been out of my comfort zone, this trip is going to blow it out of the water.

Am I excited? Absolutely. I'm ready to tackle whatever challenge comes my way and adapt to any situation.
Am I nervous? You bet I am. I'm closing my eyes, climbing to the edge of a cliff, and taking the biggest leap of faith of my life. This year is going to be amazing and exciting. I'm going to learn more than I ever expected about other parts of the world and come back with more stories than I'll be able to remember (thank you Blogger.com). However, it will not be without tremendous challenge.
In Him, all things are possible.

Visa Complications

Well the visa is more or less in control right now. I am unable to apply for one until I have proof of exit itinerary. Fear not, the consulate made it clear that processing time is about 3 days so I'm not in a critical time crunch yet.

I am left with two options. Option one is to purchase a very expensive yet very effective "Round the World" ticket that is good for 16 flight segments over the course of a year. I intend to make my way around the world based on the guidelines of the ticket anyway, so it appears that I would be saving money. One downside is that I would be restricted to only the destinations that the airline alliance uses. The other downside is that I have to settle on the full itinerary when I purchase the ticket. I do not get charged for changing the dates but there is a fee for canceling or changing locations. I'm waiting for an email back from Cathay Pacific with answers to some very important questions.
The second option is to buy a single one-way ticket out of the Philippines. The reason i would choose this option is because with flights to Singapore for $94 and Indonesia for $118, it's not a huge financial loss to get the single ticket without the Round the World fare. Plus, if I decided later to buy the Round the World ticket, I wouldn't have to start until about Jan/Feb, thus pushing back my year of travel.

There is a lot to think, talk, and pray about here. Although the time crunch is not critical yet, I am still a little pressed and need to figure out where to go from the Philippines very soon. None of my potential contacts have pulled through for me and I'm seriously scraping for advice. If anyone knows or knows anyone who knows anything about Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, or Thailand (particularly the first two and particularly with respect to diving), please please please talk to me immediately.

Part Two Approaches

This is a photo of the Makapu'u Lighthouse on one of my sunrise hikes. Very very cool. To get this picture, I hiked WAY off the trail over a ton of sharp pumice. I would do it the same way all over again.

Anyway, I've had even more fun than I anticipated, but part one of my adventures must come to a close. On the 5th of August I'm moving to the Philippines: I bought the plane ticket today. The flight dparts in the early afternoon on the 5th and arrives in Manila the evening of the 6th, even though the flight is about 10 or 11 hours. I am filling out the paperwork for the visa and sending it FedEx first thing tomorrow morning. Over the next two weeks, I'm going to be figuring out my housing situation for the first few days, packing, contacting dive shops, and exchanging money. I will be on Mindoro Island in and around the Puerto Galera area. The reason I'm only going to work out the first few days is that the cheap backpackers lodges don't have websites. What I'm going to do is stay in the cheapest (though safe) place the first 2-3 days then find a place for a few bucks a night. I don't need any luxury whatsoever - all I want is safety. The first two weeks I plan to be unemployed. I'll be walking (or biking, motoring, scootering, whatever) around to all the dive shops scoping them out and seeing which ones I like before I start talking about work.

Speaking of work, I passed the Instructor Exam and I am now a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. As soon as the paperwork is processed I will be in teaching status. That news is huge, but honestly it's sort of outweighed by the upcoming move to the Philippines.

Other exciting news is that Meg comes back from the mainland tonight. I would get her a lei like she did for me, but I have no idea where to get them. Sorry Meg. I'll at least pick you up with a big smile.

These are a few of my favorite things

I am generally a happy person. Do you want to know what makes me stay so happy all the time?

The smell in the air after rain
A child's laughter
That last spoonful of ice cream
Sunrise
Sunset
People letting me pull out in busy intersections
Playing music
Climbing trees
Stopping to listen to the birds
White puffy clouds
Raucous thunder storms 
A bag of candy
The way grass smells when it's cut
Mist beneath a waterfall
Warm clothes fresh out of the dryer
Hearing (and understanding) French
Listening to a good story
Telling a good story
Wind blowing through my hair
Seeing people smile
Making people smile (SO underrated)
Soft grass beneath bare feet
Incorrect translations
Dreaming
Folding a pair of pants without creases
Playing ultimate frisbee
(Not getting clobbered in the face)
The smell of air blowing over the sea
Watching lizards catch bugs
Making the first footprints on a field of pristine snow
Seeing sharks
Walking into a clean house
Coconuts
Seeing birds glide through the air
People standing up for something they believe
Hills on the road that make you feel weightless
Being outside instead of in
Cold shower on a hot day
Hot shower on a cold day
Fresh bread warm out of the oven
Lying down looking up at the stars
Knowing I tried my hardest
Green lights
Licking batter from the bowl
The phrase "hakuna matata"
Swinging on a hammock
The last puzzle piece
World maps
Just the right lighting for a photo
Telling people what I really think
Open air markets
Randomly breaking out into song
The purr of a cat
Oldschool Mario on the original Nintendo
Driving stick shift
Making people laugh
Knowing the lyrics to a song on the radio
Jumping on a trampoline
Changing highway lanes without hitting the reflectors
Head, shoulder, and/or back massages
Getting lost in a beautiful painting
Well-deserved naps
Being inexplicably slap happy
New can of tennis balls
Personal letters in the mail
Imagination
Wishing upon a star
Autumn leaves
Singing as loud as I want in the car
Riding my bike down a hill
Landing on the mat and not having to put the bar back up
Waking up before the sun
Sleeping in
Palm trees
Being with family
The sound of waves against the shore
Hugs
Collapsing into bed with eyelids too heavy to keep open
The beauty of math
Watching ants march
Scratch and sniff stickers
Being able to run
Head massages (yes, it's worth listing twice)
Getting responses to messages/emails
Physics humor
Being under the sea
The thought of living in another time and place
Thinking completely in music without words
Finding the 20 dollars I left in my pocket when it appears in the dryer
Grace and poise in animals
The perfectly timed sarcastic comment
Learning a new instrument
Cool accents
The excitement of being in a new place
Waking myself up by laughing in my sleep
Finding out the girl you have a huge crush on likes you


Remember, it's the little things in life that can make a world of difference. Don't forget to smile for no reason and laugh until you cry as much as possible. There are certainly appropriate times for stress, sadness, worry, and struggle but there are too many incredible things in life to remain upset. (All of these things are easily trumped by the good news of the New Testament, but that's a whole other post for another time.) Keep an eye out - I'm going to make additions to this list with no warning at all.

Instructor exam starts tomorrow (Sat) morning! I think I'm ready so it should be fun. Time for some sleep right now. Cheers!

Weather or Not

I've gotten into this whole sunrise thing. Monday morning I went out toward the north shore, stopped at this park, and spent about 30-45 minutes taking pictures of the sunrise. The next day (yesterday) I drove out to Lanikai before 5, hiked up the pillbox trail (there's a picture of the hike on one of my first few posts). I hiked up in the dark, saw the sun rise over the Mokes, and made it back home by about 6:30. With my jaw injury I took this morning off and I'll probably do the same tomorrow morning then go somewhere else on Friday.

The weather here has been weird. I don't know if I'm just now noticing or if it has been unusual the past few days. It rains for no more than 5 minutes at a time, no less than 5 times a day. Plus it's constantly changing depending on where I drive. Like today going out to Haleiwa to dive with Jeremy, I swear it rained 4 times and was sunny and hot in between each one. A couple other noteworthy things about that drive: I passed the Dole plantation and then while we were out on the boat I looked back toward shore and there was a brilliant rainbow. It was there when we surfaced, and it was there as I drove back home. Very cool. (I started writing this paragraph because it started suddenly raining, and now it stopped. Point made.)

The last piece of news is the biggest of all. Ready? I'm thinking of moving to the Philippines. Palau was proving to be very difficult to find housing and transportation. When I looked into the Philippines, there were tons of links to backpackers that I could stay in (as little as $10 per night), they have an abundance of dive shops, and at least two airlines fly there direct for about $700. I'm going to continue researching it, then talk about it, think about it, and pray about it over the next week. I hope to have some sort of decision by this time next week. Don't worry, making a decision means there's still another couple weeks to wait for the visa and to make sure I secure housing and transportation arrangements, so it's looking like I'll be leaving no sooner than the 5th of August. But then again, I can never be too sure. Stay tuned because there's going to be an Instructor Exam update soon, then a follow-up about the Philippines very soon after that.

On a Diet

So as of tonight, I'm on a diet for at least a few days. I know, I know, I've never been one for diets, but the truth is, there's no choice about this one. I'm on the "Get your jaw bashed in and split your lip so it really hurts to chew" diet. It's doing wonders for me. It's really making me aware of how much I eat and preventing me from eating when I don't have to. I'll refrain from posting pictures (though honestly it's not really that bad). Although it was bloody, I didn't lose or chip any teeth, I put my retainer in when I got home and everything is in place, my jaw is not broken, and the gash in my lip is not severe enough for stitches. That being said, it

was a really hard hit - the guy was sending the frisbee all the way down the field when his wrist connected with my face. I just hope it heals by this weekend because that's when the Instructor Examination is.

Speaking of scuba diving, I'm officially an Emergency First Response instructor so if anyone wants to learn CPR and First Aid (in Hawaii), let's talk. I finished the Instructor Development Course today by rocking the socks off the Physiology exam. After finishing, I thought to myself: I have nowhere to run off to (until ultimate) and I'm in Hawaii. How about I visit the beach for a little bit. It was beautiful. Don't let me EVER take this for granted. Please.

Complete the IDC. Check.

The Instructor Development Course (IDC) is now complete. I have one week until the Instructor Examination. I'm not worried about the pool portion, the open water portion, or the classroom presentations portion. The thing I'm worried about is the physiology exam. There is a 5-section dive theory exam (Physics, Skills and Environment, Physiology, RDP, and Equipment). Physiology is clearly my weakness. Until the exam, I'm going to be studying as well as trying to knock out my last 13 dives that I need before I'm allowed to be certified. My problem is not having people to go diving with.

Meg went back to the mainland so I'm here with Bruce (the rabbit) holding down the fort, quite well if I do say so myself.

I watched God Grew Tired of Us last night and thought it was very interesting. It's about refugees from Sudan who are given the opportunity to live in America. Very interesting indeed. It made me really consider life in America and although it seems like this is the coolest most awesome country, there are a lot of things we don't have right. I'm not talking about government or the way things are run, I'm talking about the general population as a whole - our attitudes. Just watch it and think about what I said. You'll see.

I'm trying to secure some World Cup tickets but my only problem is that the FIFA website is not being helpful. It's not letting me apply for tickets in Cape Town. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Happy birthday Mom!!!

Assistance

I have now been going to scuba class for 5 days. The classroom portions have been relatively bland. Larry is trying to make the material interesting, but the truth is that he is required to go through all of the slides and handouts that are part of the class - an entire 3-inch binder's worth (that's why it takes 10 days averaging 7 hours a day to get through everything). Granted every once in a while we get to go to the pool or beach. The in-water hands-on type work is the type that Jeremy and I like the most. Jeremy is the other guy taking the course with me. He is very cool - 30 or 40 something years old, is a pilot, has been a skydiving instructor, and now runs a business where he takes people out to dive with great whites... outside of a cage. He has a laid back attitude and is fun to work with.

Dell is ridiculous. When I called them to fix the order the first time (when all they had was pink), we settled on a different laptop altogether. A few days later I later realized that we had forgotten about Photoshop. I called him back and had him add it to my order since I asked for it with the original order. It turns out that he added it by canceling and re-submitting my order which pushed the delivery date back several more days, but the worst part is that he charged me for it. When I realized this I sent him a very unhappy email and when he called back the next morning I ended up settling for a $50 gift card. Not a full compensation, but it's enough to at least shut me up I suppose. The new laptop which I ordered on the 28th of May is expected to arrive on the 22nd of July. Good grief, Dell.

Getting back to the scuba class, the first 4 days of the instructor course count as becoming a certified Assistant Instructor. Neat, eh? We sent the paperwork off today so I'll be getting a card soon.

I want to write about more such as my swim today but my eyes are closing because I'm so exhausted.

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever

It began to sink in a few weekends ago when I was making the morning drive up to the North Shore. It's so easy to see the beauty of God's creation on this island. From the mountains to the valleys. From the rivers to the sea. Everywhere I look I see life so beautiful that it sometimes takes my breath away. It is beauty I can't capture on film. Beauty that I can't describe in words. Beauty that I'm sure is taken for granted and overlooked every day. Beauty that is all part of God's creation. He is amazing.

I went to the weekly game of ultimate frisbee tonight and had a blast. My instructor class starts tomorrow - the whole reason I'm in Hawaii to begin with. We're going to go 9-4 in the classroom tomorrow, Thursday, and then a little bit shorter on Friday. No idea what we're going to cover but I only have 2 more pages of the 60 pages of worksheets to finish up before tomorrow morning. The manager at the shop called today and told me that she's going to try to get me a time slot next week to work in the shop! Hooray! Experience! I just hope I can remember all the little details of how to use the crazy computer system. Oh, last thing to add. A permanent state-wide cell phone ban begins tomorrow. No cell phones while driving anymore. Now I need to finish my last reading/worksheet filling and get some sleep. It's so hot here day and night. Overnight lows are mid-upper 70s with over 70% humidity.

Where Clouds Are Made

4:25 is certainly an early time to wake up, but when you want to run up a mountain before the sun comes up, you have no other option. This is precisely what Meg and I did along with a friend named Polly yesterday. Equipped with camera, water, headlamp, and my Vibram shoes I love so much, we parked at the base of the trail then proceeded to the Old Pali Road and jogged up the half paved/half jungle route. Lights from the city were blocked by the trees so our meager head lamps were the only things allowing us to have a peek at how steep and how slick the ascent really was.

Upon reaching the summit around 5:45, the sky was beginning to lighten up but the Sun itself was not yet visible. Looking at the peak to my left, clouds were being created right before my eyes. It was a truly magical sight: small faint white splotches appearing from crisp clear air and growing as the wind whipped up from the base of the mountain and carried them higher.
Turning back to my right, the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds in the distance. This is what you see in the photograph. It didn't waste any time as it quickly crawled past the clouds and into the open, warming the mountain as well as the valley below. It may be difficult to wake up before 4:30, but after seeing a sunrise like that, there's no question that it was worth it. What a way to start out the day.